Monday, January 3, 2011

Astroweather -- Solar Eclipse

Bring me my Bow of burning gold; bring me my arrows of desire. ~ William Blake

New Moon, Partial Solar Eclipse January 4, 2011 at 1:03 am pst

As I have been discussing in previous posts, the end of 2010 brought an unprecedented lunar eclipse aligned with the galactic center on the Winter Solstice. The next phase of this eclipse period is the New Moon Solar Eclipse on Tuesday, January 4, 2011 at 1:03 am pst in the sign of Sagittarius.



During this solar eclipse both the Sun and Moon fall in the 20th nakshatra of Purva Ashada. This nakshatra contains two stars, Kaus Borealis and Kaus Australis, that form the archer's bow of the Sagittarius constellation. In mythology the bow is universally the weapon of both royalty and the warrior, often combined in the warrior-king, linking war and the chase. For example, in the Bhagavad Gita, the bow is Arjuna’s weapon, an emblem of kingship. Arrows represent messages, and the bow is the tool of the messenger. The warrior whose heart is pure will hit the mark. When Blake describes the Archer taking up the "bow of burning solar gold" he is describing the magical weapon through which he will express the ardent desire of his heart with the arrows of intent.



Sagittarius is a sign associated with shooting for far-off goals. It is also associated with seekers. In Latin Sagittarius derives from sagire, meaning to seek, or to know. The great benefic Jupiter rules the sign of Sagittarius and confers blessings and spiritual wisdom to planets transiting this area of the night sky. The ruling planet of the nakshatra Purva Ashada is the other great benefic Venus, which gives desire, popularity, and fame. Purva Ashada means "the undefeated" and is called the "invincible star" reflecting this combination of Jupiter and Venus influences. At the time of the eclipse Jupiter in Pisces will trine Venus in Scorpio which is a beautiful and auspicious aspect that will allow us all to take up our bow and take aim at our most heart-felt goals.

The deity associated with Purva Ashada is Apas, literally God in the form of water. The shakti gift associated with Purva Ashada is called varchograhana shakti, the power of invigoration. As David Frawley writes: Purvashadha brings about purification and regeneration, like the energy gained through taking a bath in water. It provides us additional energy for our efforts. These effects flow from the Waters, which in this instance are heavenly in nature and can provide inner purification.



Another deity associated with Purva Ashada is Varuna, the protector of the seas and giver of rain. Like water, he pervades all things. Water is the elemental source of life on this planet. The body is made up of 60% water, and our brains 85%. Thus the elemental aspect of the divine resides inside our very molecular structure. Moreover, the profound and provocative research of Masuru Emoto has reveal that water is also a messenger medium.



If a message is negative, it destroys the structure of water molecules. If positive, it creates highly organized and beautiful structure. Moreover, just as the power of the moon to move tidal water is heightened by the influence of the nodes during eclipse periods, our power to express our message (shoot the arrow) is also amplified. Whether this is for good or bad depends on the quality of our thoughts and intentions.

So although this eclipse has a lot of positive energy with the benefics in water signs, the line up of malefic planets, Sun, Mars, and especially Rahu in fire signs may combine to bring a steamy upheaval, especially geologically. Already during this eclipse period we have seen increased volcanic activity in the pacific ring of fire (where fire and water meet), torrential rains and flooding in Australia, and strong and increased earthquake activity across the world. This is a Rahu eclipse, and during the past week the children of Rahu, sunspots, have been increasing and releasing energy from the Sun which also has a profound effect on earth weather and geology.




I would not be surprised to see more activity during the next week, especially with Mercury traveling through its gandanta and sande degrees (see previous posts on its direct and retrograde stations).



This solar eclipse is the first of four partial solar eclipses occurring in 2011. The last solar eclipse of 2010 was a spectacular full solar eclipse that fell in the 7th nakshatra of Punavasu. As I described in the July 2010 post, the nakshatra Punarvasu consists of two bright stars, Castor and Pollux, above the constellation of Orion. Many ancient cultures saw these stars as twins or lovers, but ancient Vedic seers interpreted them as a "quiver of arrows. And these are no ordinary arrows. Punar means "to repeat" or to "return" and these arrows function like boomerangs, or divine astras, that magically return after fulfilling their function or mission. Their perigee is the moment they hit their target, but that is not the end as the arrow must bring its rewards by returning. Under that eclipse the release of our magical arrows set the stage, for this upcoming eclipse. We have an opportunity again to take up our bow, collect these arrows, and take new aim. This is the final eclipse that occurs fully in the Sagittarius-Gemini axis, which is also the current solstice axis aligned with the galactic plane. Use the purifying power of Purva Ashada to clear your heart, refine your goals, and release your magic to the Galaxy!

Namaste!

1 comment:

Lisa Ursu said...

Thanks for this post Liz, the information is fantastic.
Happy New Year to you and yours.